Later this year we plan to run a special report on Masters sports around the world. Our first stop on the Masters Athlete World Tour 2008 was Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which had a very visible Masters athletic movement.
Rio is a gigantic beach town of almost 12 million people. The city’s beaches – from Copacabana to Ipanema to Barra da Tijuca – are filledwith athletes of all ages. On the walkways by the beach, men and women jog and bicycle parallel to the Atlantic Ocean.
On the beaches themselves, permanent volleyball courts and soccer fields are set up for year-round games in the sand. In Rio’s Leblon neighborhood I saw one group of 60+ volleyball players who have met most mornings for years to play a few games on the beach.
In addition to volleyball, many Brazilians play a combination of soccer and volleyball called “foot volleyball” on the volleyball courts. Not all the activity occurs on the sand. In the water, surfers and boogie boarders ride the waves. And beyond the breakers, windsurfers and kite surfers get airborne. Away from the beaches, players filled tennis courts and basketball courts in public parks on a Friday night.
While in Rio, I met with four Brazilians who are active in Masters athletic associations: Denise Mattioli, who played volleyball for Brazil in the Huntsman Global Cup in St. George, Utah; Mario Dunlop, who plans to return to St. George this year to play for the Brazilian men’s team; Carlos Roberto de Silva, who is active in Masters swimming; and Sergio “Alemao” Sztancsa, who is a Masters rower and a Concept2 rowing machine rep in Brazil.
Because my Portuguese is non-existent, a friend of mine, Sergio Barcellos, translated. Each of the participants in this roundtable described a growing Masters base in their sport, and they were proud to be an active part of it.
Dunlop traced international Masters volleyball competition for Brazil back to 1989, when an age-group team traveled to Denmark for a tournament. Since then, Brazilian teams for both men and women have traveled from Australia to the United States for tournaments.
Mattioli added that she stays in shape both to play volleyball and because of playing volleyball. “I have a net on Ipanema (beach) where I play every weekend,” she said. Her group consists of friends and family, who have played on the beach together for decades.
DeSilva, who competes when he can and specializes in the breaststroke, said that Masters swimming officially began in Brazil around 1980. Today, the organization has about 7,000 registered swimmers, all of whom competed in a meet last year. “Swimming is a sport where more people are practicing than competing,” said DeSilva, pointing out that the Masters movement is likely much larger if you count fitness swimmers.
Sztancsa said that Masters rowing is growing, although off a small base. He traveled to Boston earlier this year to compete in the CRASH-B Sprints. When asked how often he’s been practicing, he held up his left hand, displaying a monstrous blister.
Suprisingly, Brazil’s national sport, soccer, appeared to lag behind other sports. There are many adult leagues, but few that are open only to older players. Age-group soccer for adults may be a nascent concept, but there seems to be no shortage of skills among Brazilians who have been playing for decades.
While at a soccer game at Maracana, the stadium that will host the World Cup in 2014, I saw a man who was well past 60 step onto the field at halftime. During the entire intermission, he juggled a soccer ball with his feet while walking the sideline from endline to endline. He never faltered and didn’t drop the ball once. Somebody needs to start a veterans league so that guy can use his skills not just to perform tricks but to score goals.
Tags: Brazil Masters Swimming Volleyball Soccer Rowing
